Press for finishing tubular fabrics



Nov. 30 1926. v

i G. HUNT ET AL PRESS FOR FINISHING TUBULAR FABRICS' 2 Sheets-Sheet '1 Filed Feb. 24 1925 Nov. 30 1926.

G. HUNT El' AL PRESS FOR FINISHING TUBULAR FABRICS Filed Feb. 24, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Nov. 30, 1926.

, UNITED STATES rarer Freier,.-

PZRLEISSy FOB FINISHING T'UBLLR FABECS.

Application led February 24, 1925, Serial No. 11,350, and in Great Britain February 28, 1924.

This invention relates to improvements which are applicable to the presses employed for finishing fabrics, such for example as knitted webbing, and its object is to render such presses automatic when dealing with tubular fabrics.

In the process of pressing tubular fabrics, a board of the necessary dimensions is employed, this board is ydisposed in the interior of the fabric in Order to extend it to the desired width, and the fabric is pressed on this board between the heated beds of a press, a, short length at a time. After each length has been pressed, the board is moved along the interior of the fabric, and the latter then re-adjusted in the press for pressing the next length, both of which processes have to be carried out by hand.

According to this invention, a board or plate over which the fabrick is fed, is disposed; between the upper and lower beds of the press, this board or plate is vsupported and retained in position `by means of rollers, and theserollers are, positively rotated so afs-to automatically feed the fabric forward over-the bloard or plate. This feed is intermittent, andthe process of'pressing which is, automatically effected, takes place. whilst the,,fabric` isA at rest, In the preferred arrangement, the tubular fabric stretching deviceA describedjn British Patent No. 212,369, isfused inconjunction with the fabric eX- tendingboard or pla-te described.

Referring tothe accompanying drawings,

Figs.,`1iand 1iAL show a sidev elevation, and

Figs 2 and?L aplan of an automatic press .g for V- finishingy tubular fabrics con-V structedaccording to our invention.

Fig, fisarside-view'of the arrangement for` im artingintermittent motion to the fabric feeding mechanism.

Like letters indicate like parts throughout the drawings. A

The ypress is `preferably constructed with astationary upper bed A, and a movable lower bed B, and a board or plate C over which the tubular, fabric is drawnand eX- tended, is located betweenthetwo beds A and B, being supported on horizontal rollers .D D disposed at th-e front and rear respectively of the lower bed B as shown. Thel normal positionin which the board or plateC is held by the, rollers lD D is clear ofboth beds, when the. lowerone B is` in its low-er position, so that the feeding forward of ,thefabric, is; not lchecked, by frictional by these springs, and provision is made for adjusting themyr from time to time as required.

rlhe fabric extending plate or board C,

which must be of the correct width for the fabric under treatment, is as shown, pre vented from moving forward by connecting its fore end to the free ends ofthe fabric Ieidnending :arms F of the tubular fabric stretching device Z described in the British Patent No. 212,369, hereinbefore cited. As shown the forel end ofthe board or plate C is formed with side notches C', and the `free ends of the arms F are pro-vided vwith studs Fto engage in said notches. The

platev or board C may however be prevented from moving longitudinally` by any other approved means. The rear end of the vboard or plate C is prevented from moving transversely by means yof two vertical rollers G, between which itis located.

The horizontal plate supporting rollers D, D and the vertical rollers G, are rotated so as to feed the fabric on the board or plate C forwardat the desiredrate, and in order that fabric extending boards or plates C of ydifferent widths may be employedas is re quired, thel vertical rollers Gr are carried so that they can be transversely adjusted, with-` out disconnecting them from1 the driving mechanism.

As shown in the drawings,.the rollers Gr are carried by brackets G which are mounted and are adjustable on two transverse shafts H and lil', the formerone l-l of which is driven whilst the other one H is fixed Bevel wheels d are splined to the shaft H, and these wheels engage with corresponding wheels on ythe axes of and drive the vertical rollers G. rllhe shafts H and H are mounted in bearing brackets P secured to the framing l), and the former H is driven as is hereinafter described,

The lower movable bed B of the press which ismounted on the same vertical pillars E which carry the upper bed A, is preferably actuated by means of four cams L, disposed in pairs on two transverse cam shafts M M carried in bearings on its underside in the main framing P. These shafts M M are geared to the main-driving shaft N, which is carried in bearings in the saine framing P as the said cam shafts, and the cams L are shaped so as to correctly apportion the time the fabric is to be under pressure, and the time required in which to feed the fabric forward, both operations being performed in one revolution of said shafts. As shown in the drawings, the cams L which act on anti-friction rollers B on the bed D, are designed to raise and hold the bed D in its upper position for about half a revolution, and lea-ve it at rest in its lower position for a like period.

The two cam-shafts M M described are geared to the main driving shaft N of the press, as follows One of said cam shafts M is connected to the main shaft N by means of toothed ing disposed on said shafts, and two intermediate shafts Q and Q mounted in bearings in the underframing l), and the other cam shaft M is connected to the former by means of a driving chain R, and sprocket wheels R on the respective shafts.

The gearing for connecting the cam shaft M to the main driving shaft N, may be of any suitable arrangement, but is preferably of any well known variable speed type, so that the press can be driven at say three or any other, desired number of different speeds relatively to the main shaft N at will.

The fabric is fed over the board or plate C in the press,by rotating the horizontal rolln ers D D', and the vertical rollers G previously described for supporting said board, but in addition, two feed rollers K K are provided at the rear of the press, between which the fabric is carried after it leaves the board C. A third roller K2 is also provided behind the'two former rollers. The whole of these rollers are rotated so as to feed t-he fabric forward in the interval between each pressingoperation. In addition the top feed roller K is raised when the feed is stationary, in order to obviate the marking of the work.

This is effected by mounting said roller K in two hand levers S, and disposing these levers so that their inner ends rest on brackets on the lower rising and falling bed B. As a result, the levers S are raised each time the bed B rises to press the work carrying the roller K with them. These levers S may be operated by hand in order to raise the roller K whenever it is desired.

The intermittent motion for effecting the fabric feed, is obtained from the arrangement shown detached in Fig. 3. This comprises a toothed segment T, and a cam U,

both of which are mounted on the transverse cam shaft M, a pinion V mounted on an intermediate shaft lV, and a spring actuated bell-crank pinion locking' lever X, which is pivoted to the framing l). One end of the lever X is provided with a tooth K to engage between the teeth of the pinion V, whilst its other end is engaged by the cam U. The toothed sector T as it moves round gears with the teeth of and rotates the pinion V through the requisite number of degrecs, and then moves out of gear each motion, whilst the cam U acting on the lever X releases the pinion V just as the teeth of the sector T move into gear with it, and on the other hand releases the lever and permits it to lock the pinion the moment the sector moves out of gear.

The intermediate shaft wW, is connected through the intern'iediary of a second shaft Y, and chain and sprocket gearing, to the horizontal rollers K K and K2, the vertical rollers Gf geared to the transverse shaft H, and the horizontal rollers D and D which support the board C, by means of chain and sprocket gearing, so arranged that they all receive an intermittent fabric feeding mo' tion from the first motion shaft WV, of the correct velocity.

In feeding the fabric into the press, it is in the arrangement shown in the drawings first fed over a stretching device' Z of the same construction as described in the British Patent No. 212,369 hereinbefore cited. This first expands the fabric to the desired width, and delivers it on to the board or plate C, after which it is fed along the said board or plate by the arrangement previously described.

The feed rollers used in connection with the stretching device Z, as shown in Fig. l2L and Fig. 2a, may be intermittently rotated in the same manner and by the same means as those previously described, but this is not necessary, a continuous feed may in this case be employed, and it is obtained by gearing all the said feed rollers to the cam shaft M of the press, preferably by means of chain and sprocket gearing as shown.

Then this course is adopted, the work fed forward over the device Z during the pressing operation of that part which is stationary on the board C, gathers for the time being on the ends of the arms F and the fore end of the board or plate C, and is then ready to be fed forward over the latter, the operation in this case being effected with less difficulty than if the fabric were taken straight from the device Z. An idle roller may be provided above the end of the board C to prevent the gathered portion of the fabric from moving into the press before it is required.

With the arrangement described, not only lll) is there a great lsaving in labour owing to t-he operation being entirely automatic, but better' results are obtained, for the simple reason that every length of the fabric receives exactly the same pressure, and it is subjected to such pressure and to the heat of the steam heated beds, for precisely the same period of time.

Vhat we claim as our invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. In an automatic press for finishing tubular fabrics, a board or plate over which the fabric is fed disposed between the two beds of the press, rollers for holding said board or plate. which also serve to feed the fabric forward, means for imparting intermittent feed motion to said rollers, and means for actuating the press so as to press the fabric in the intervals between the feeding movements, substantially as described.

2. In an automatic press for finishing tubular fabrics as claimed in claim 1, the herein described means for imparting an intermittent feed to the rollers in connection with the fabric extending board or plate disposed between the press beds, comprising a toothed segment and a cam on the driving shaft, a pinion on the driven shaft, and a spring actuated lever for locking the pinion on the driven shaft which lever is operated by the cam on the driving shaft so as to release the pinion when the,toothed sector moves into gear and lock it as the toothed sector moves out of gear, substantially as described.

3. In an automatic press for finishing tubular fabrics as claimed in claim l, a press with an upper bed which is held down by springs and a lower bed which is raised and lowered by means of pairs of cams on two transverse cam shafts disposed under the lower bed said cams being so formed as to apportion the time the lower bed is in its respective upper and lower positions as is required to give the proper time for ythe feeding forward of the tubular fabric on the one hand and the pressing of it on the other hand, substantially as described.

In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands.

GEORGE HUNT. CHARLES VILLIAM GAMPION. 

